the sons of camus-review

Issue 13, A review       -essarci

At first I poke in to the poems by Rowland Hughes, ‘A church some where’ that touches my heart when I read the line ‘I had forgotten the value of the silence’.

 Observing silence is not an easy task. One requires more wisdom and fortitude to keep silence. Keeping silence does not mean that he has nothing to speak with but it conveys some answer to the issue under discussion but in a different form, at times silence will be more pregnant than words poured that will confuse.

‘After the storm’ by the same poet takes to you to the stage where you can experience the after effects of a disaster. Night is suns’ thief is a beautiful and enjoyable expression.

In ‘A Rhondda Man’s funeral’ we painfully read the line, the coffin is carried by young men not yet affected by the coal dust disease, which coveys that people here are deprived of their health by the ego of the mining industry that pours the coal dust.

Men’s desire to be wealthy and powerful makes him vulnerable, to rotten air to breathe and polluted water to drink. We conveniently ignore the holes that appear in the ozone layer but enjoy the company of young woman in a comfortable warm chamber.

Another poem which drew my attention is ‘Falling through water’. ‘Perhaps you grew wings to measure

the suns’ distance, simply to witness

its’ gradual extinction’ is a thought provoking  pithy statement by Rowland Hughes. Whether you witness it or not the sun will die one day, what will happen then, we have no answer. That is  scientific fact also. We are insignicant tiny flies of no value before this humanly unimaginable universe.

Changming Yuan poems I take next. In ‘Languacolonization’ we hear the words,English Empire -where the moon never sets.  Now  the Globalization has set in and Americanization is also another name for it.

 English is now the world language.The advantages of English being the world language is vast.They came,they saw,and they conquered was their  history. My country India then was one among the British colonies. The education they gave ,made us literally slaves to them, on the contrary it produced  native thinkers ,of freedom and  self respect.

I am to say we normally say,in British empire sun never sets but Yuan puts it  differently as, the moon never sets.

‘Some day’ poem by Changming yuan recalls freedom movement song of African freedom movement-‘we shall overcome one day, oh deep in my heart I do believe we shall overcome some day’.

To sufferings of humans and animals, remedy is always expected. They want to get rid of the darkness. Does he mean the prevailing political situation in his own country?

In the ‘Delivering Guy’ the poet laments for the empty tomorrows. ‘But surely garbage in the end ‘ also seconds  of his ‘ empty tomorrows’.

In the poem,History Reviewed (3)

‘They are planting phone poles and

Spreading wires everywhere to steal

All the innocent consciousness

From every boy and girl.

The poet worries for the chaotic situation in his native land and also for western devils to come and exploit the prevailing condition in his own land.

In the poem,Jingzhou pepper, Yuan calls Mao Zedong a poetic revolutionary and Qu yuan a revolutionary poet.Is Mao a poet? Then it is a news to me.

‘The road from Bangla Desh’  poem by Huw Punder depicts a bad situation prevailing in his country. As a neighbor to the state I feel sorry for the existing state of affairs. He says ‘shame and anger grows’.

Penelope Thoms in his ‘There are no children here’ exhibits a landscape where we do not here sound of children. They were wiped out by hooligans. Perhaps he may echo the Libyan situation.

Crabs poem by Ouyang Yu is quiet interesting. I am vegetarian in my food habits and I do not any animals or insects. At least 3croer people in my country are vegetarian. Have you heard about this ever?

Ann J. Davidsons’ mentioning of Herbert Kuhner who said,’There is nothing chivalrous about killing civilians. It is not anything to be proud of, is pinching my heart. Good souls crave for harmonious living everywhere.

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